The data center of the future is made of algae bricks and runs on hydrogen fuel cells

Inside Microsoft’s efforts to build a low-impact data center (because it’s building almost 100 a year).

Every year for the foreseeable future, Microsoft expects to build 50-100 new data centers to keep up with customer demand. That’s a challenge for a company that has a goal to soon be carbon negative—meaning it sequesters more carbon that it emits—and water positive, meaning that it returns more water to the environment than it uses. Right now, even though technology keeps getting more efficient, data centers still use huge amounts of energy and water (to keep the data centers cool); globally, the industry uses an estimated 200 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, or more than some countries.

Read Full Story